The United Nations has announced it rejects a damage claim for victims of a cholera epidemic in Haiti, believed to have been caused by UN forces. Since its outbreak in October 2010, the disease has claimed over 7,750 lives.

A relief mission, which helped restore Haiti from
earthquake-caused devastation, set off yet
another crisis in the region – the health one. A study by a
UN-appointed panel
offers evidence the cholera bacteria were brought to Haiti by a
United Nations
battalion sent over from disease-stricken Nepal.

Poor sanitation, provided by a local contractor at the Haitian
UN base allegedly led to
contaminated waste getting into a tributary of one of Haiti's
biggest rivers.

The disease quickly spread across the country, which lacks
decent water and sewage
facilities. Over half a million people fell ill.

The claim for compensation from the UN was filed in November
2011 by the Institute for
Justice and Democracy in Haiti, which believes the international
body owes
hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for sparking off
the
still-ravaging epidemic.

The UN thinks otherwise. Its February 21 statement describes
Haiti cholera victims’
compensation claim as “not receivable”, citing immunity
granted to the
organization by its own 1946 convention.

"We're disappointed because the UN is passing up a chance to
stop cholera's killing,
and to show leadership in promoting the rule of law," said
Brian
Concannon, the institute's director in an interview to The
Associated Press.

He has also promised to carry on the legal battle for
compensation, pledging to take the
case to a national court in Haiti, the United States or Europe.

The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, which legally
represents 5,000 Haitians,
thinks each death should be compensated for by a minimum of
$100,000, and half
that sum should go to each cholera survivor.

A Washington think-tank, the Center for Economic and Policy
Research (CEPR), has condemned
the UN’s claim of immunity in the case of Haitian cholera epidemic
as “another
unfortunate abdication of responsibility.”

“They have the resources to put an end to cholera in Haiti
for less money than they are going
to spend in the next year or two on keeping UN troops there. But
they're in no
rush to right the wrongs that they have done," said Mark
Weisbrot, CEPR’s
co-director.

The disappointment with the UN decision expressed by the human
rights activists is
shared by Haitians.

"I think every victim should get compensation,” said
Maximilien Saint Juste, 29, in an
interview to The Guardian. Though his disease is gone, Saint Juste
complains
those who recovered “suffer discrimination.”

“A lot of people think that cholera cannot be treated
entirely; they believe that cholera always
sticks in your blood cells."

Although the UN is not going to pay compensations, it still
pledges a commitment to help Haiti
eradicate cholera.

In December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon came up with a
10-year $2.27-billion plan to help
put an end to cholera in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican
Republic. The
projects remains largely underfunded so far, with only 10 per cent
of the total
sum having been secured.

The epidemic in Haiti continues to claim lives. One hundred and
ninety-three people died of
cholera in December 2012. More than 11,000 cases were reported that
same month,
a significant increase from 8,000 reported in December
2011.